Venezuela has accused US President Donald Trump of making a “colonialist threat” after he said the airspace around the country should be considered closed. The country’s foreign ministry called Trump’s comments “another extravagant, illegal and unjustified aggression against the Venezuelan people”.The US does not legally have the authority to close another country’s airspace, but Trump’s online post could lead to travel uncertainty and deter airlines from operating there. The US has been building its military presence in the Caribbean, which officials say is to combat drug smuggling. Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro has dismissed US claims of drug trafficking as an attempt to oust him. In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: “To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY”.The White House did not immediately respond to the BBC’s request for comment. Trump’s comments come days after the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) warned airlines of “heightened military activity in and around Venezuela”.Venezuela on Wednesday banned six major international airlines – Iberia, TAP Portugal, Gol, Latam, Avianca and Turkish Airlines – from landing there after they failed to meet a 48-hour deadline to resume flights.The US has deployed the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald Ford, and about 15,000 troops to within striking distance of Venezuela.It has insisted that the deployment – the largest by the US in the region since it invaded Panama in 1989 – is to combat drug trafficking.On Thursday, Trump warned that US efforts to halt Venezuelan drug trafficking “by land” would begin “very soon”. US forces have carried out at least 21 strikes on boats they said were carrying drugs, killing more than 80 people. However, the US has not provided evidence that the boats carried drugs. The Venezuelan government believes the aim of the US action is to depose Maduro, whose re-election last year was denounced by the Venezuelan opposition and many foreign nation …
